D WHITEa Sydney bird dealer while on a family
holiday. They commenced nesting shortly
afterwards. The temporary aviary was a
converted shed with an extended open
fl ight which housed a small collection
of fi nches and one pair of Bourke’s
Parrots Neopsesphotus bourkii, until a
prefabricated block of four aviaries under
the one roof was erected. A suitable
nesting log for the Bourke’s Parrots
attracted them immediately it was hung
on the back inside wall. However, to my
amazement, I discovered a few weeks later
that the Blue-faced Parrot Finches were
busy building a nest from dry grass on top
of the young Bourke’s nest! The parrot
fi nches were immediately removed. The
parrots reared their young and the parrot
fi nches became established in a rather bare
all-fi nch aviary.
Russell Kingston wrote, ‘Personally,
I prefer to house a colony with a mixed
collection of small seed-eaters in large,
well-planted aviaries. The aviary should be
sited so as to receive the full benefi t of the
daily sunlight’.
I agree with Mark Shephard’s summation
that, ‘In an aviary for Blue-faced Parrot
Finches, the objective should be to recreate
the natural habitat as near as possible, and
consideration needs to be given to some
of the behavioural traits of these birds. To
give the birds plenty of room to fl y about,
the aviary should be as large and as high as
possible, and should be heavily planted with
shrubs and tall grasses. This will enable the
birds to undertake their complex courtship
display, when the male vigorously pursues
the female around the aviary and through
the bushes. In larger aviaries, the birds tend
to settle down more and become inquisitive
and tame, while in smaller aviaries they are
often shy and unsettled’. He added, ‘an open
area of earthen fl oor will be appreciated by
these parrot fi nches because they are fond
of foraging on the ground’.leader of birdwatching tours, told me of
his exciting birding experience in North
Queensland. It had occurred over 1–3
November 1995 when, accompanied by
two Americans, he had four sightings of
the Blue-faced Parrot Finch in ‘a small,
open, grassy clearing amongst rainforest
and adjacent to a former forestry road
which leads to Mount Lewis at an altitude
of 1224m’.
On day one they had their fi rst sighting
of Blue-faced Parrot Finches at 5.50am but
as they did not wish to disturb the fi nches,
which included 20–30 Red-browed Finches
Neochmia temporalis, they remained in
the car. The fi nches, still feeding, moved
further away down the left side of the
trail which led to a small creek in the
neighbouring rainforest where the tour
group had the second sighting for the day,
including more Blue-faced Parrot Finches
which joined the original feeding fi nches.
‘We estimated a minimum of six, but
more likely eight Blue-faced Parrot
Finches feeding with the Red-browed
Finches. The distinctive calls of the parrot
fi nches were heard frequently,’ Len said.
Two days later in the same area, they had
the second of their two sightings.
Not everyone is so lucky. Joseph
Forshaw had a completely different
experience. In the recent book
Grassfi nches in Australia, which he wrote
with Mark Shephard, Joe, who authored
the fi eld information, writes, ‘I have seen
Blue-faced Parrot Finches in New Guinea,
but have been frustrated repeatedly
in my efforts to observe them in north
Queensland. Too often I was told that
‘They were here yesterday’ or ‘You should
have been here last week’!
The Blue-faced is considered the most
diffi cult of the Australian grassfi nches
to sight-record in the wild and, in the
recently published book The Australian
Bird Guide, it is considered, ‘generally
shy and elusive, readily seeking cover
when disturbed’.
CAPTIVE EXPERIENCES
Housing
Some 40 years ago I purchased my fi rst
pair of Blue-faced Parrot Finches from
Blue-faced Parrot Finches: Male, left,
young at centre and female on right
Feeding
In captivity, the Blue-faced Parrot Finch
is an easy species to cater for and, like
several other Australian species (such as
the Gouldian Finch) can be bred without
livefood. However, the Blue-faced does
require a good quality commercial fi nch
mix supplemented with canary seed,
plus fi ne seeding grass, fi nely shredded
broad-leafed greens (including endive and
lettuce) and a slice of Lebanese cucumber.
As it is a grassfi nch, seeding grass is both
important and enjoyed, especially if hung
high in the aviary. Australian aviculturists
often provide soaked seed as a regular
additive, especially during the cold months
when seeding grass is not available.
When I last kept Blue-faced Parrot
Finches, I bred mealworms especially for
them but they showed no interest and bred
successfully without livefood. However, I
provided a vinegar fl y culture (Drosophila
species) as an alternative form of livefood.
You can attract this insect to the aviary
by creating a culture of rotting fruit—
especially cut-up pieces of lemon, orange
and grapefruit. The usual method of
establishing vinegar fl y culture has been
to place the fruit in a small open-topped
container (such as a plastic ice-cream
container) and cover the top with small
wire mesh which allows the fl ies to escape
from the culture before being caught on
the wing by fi nches in the aviary.
Clean water should always be available
for both drinking and bathing, which
they really enjoy. Although livefood
is no longer considered essential for
successful breeding of this bird, many
aviculturists provide other additives. A
varied range of commercial supplements
for fi nches is now available, as advertised
in BirdKeeper.
As a source of grit, I provided my
Blue-faced Parrot Finches with a
combined mixture of small pieces of
charcoal, fi ne shellgrit and microwave-
dried crushed eggshells.Breeding
Lieutenant Hauth, a member of the
German Ornithologists’ Society, is credited
with being the fi rst person to breed theBlue-faced Parrot Finch nest in captivityBl f d P t Fi h M l l ft
Blue-faced Parrot Finch feeding
on seeding grasses in the wildJ GRIFFITH